Keroride is an on-demand service to Macquarie Park. The service is available to any person who lives in an 8 km radius from Macquarie Park. The service has been available to Lane Cove residents for nearly 2 years.
Each time ITC has mentioned the on-demand Keoride service on our Facebook page, there has been glowing recommendations posted. You can read one users’ testimonial here.
It was announced today the Macquarie Park on-demand trial will end on 20 March 2020.
A Transport for NSW spokesperson says since the service was launched in March 2018, several service changes have been made and a great deal has been learned about the delivery of on-demand transport services.
“The Macquarie Park On Demand trial-tested flexible and easy ways for customers to travel between their home and key hubs such as Macquarie University, Macquarie Shopping Centre, North Ryde Business Park, Optus Centre and Foxtel,” a TfNSW spokesperson said.
“The trial has run for the maximum 24-month term and during this time 80,000 trips have been delivered, including an average 4,800 per month.” The service operated between 6 am and 7 pm Monday to Friday, running an expanded service area in the morning and afternoon peaks where it offered customers rides between their home and the central Macquarie Park Precinct.
“These trials help us learn more about the needs of customers and how they travel during the first and last mile of their journey.”
“Transport for NSW will use the learnings from this, and other pilots, to look at different ways in which we can make it easier for our customers to get around on public transport.”
Changes to Northern Sydney Bus Operators
In October 2019 the NSW State Government published a plan to “franchise” the buses (the union called it privatisation) servicing Sydney, Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs and the Lower North Shore/CBD. These Bus Areas would be operated by private contractors with the NSW Govt owning the buses and depots.
Last year, ITC asked our Local Member the Hon Anthony Roberts to comment on this plan. Anthony Roberts said that the system was not being privatised but was being opened up to the private sector to competitively tender to operate the buses. He said this was the first step towards introducing a more flexible public transport system to benefit Lane Cove. He noted that certain services during daytime are losing money and it would be better to have an on-demand system during the day.
It seems interesting that the NSW Government is promoting on-demand service while cancelling an on-demand service that has been widely praised.
If you would like the on-demand service to continue you can contact our local member Anthony Roberts here or the Minister for Transport’s office here.
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